Pocono commuters robbed while at NYC jobs

Saturday

Aug 28, 2010 at 12:01 AMAug 28, 2010 at 12:51 AM

MOUNT POCONO — Edwin Hamilton spends much of his work life 600 feet above the ground with little more than a safety harness to keep him from falling. But nothing, not even the cool nerves of being that high in the air every day, could prepare him for what he came home to Thursday.

MICHAEL SADOWSKI

MOUNT POCONO — Edwin Hamilton spends much of his work life 600 feet above the ground with little more than a safety harness to keep him from falling.

As a union welder in New York City, he's been able to conquer that common fear of heights.

But nothing, not even the cool nerves of being that high in the air every day, could prepare him for what he came home to Thursday.

His home on Cobblewood Street in the normally quiet borough neighborhood had been broken into through a living room window, and he and his wife found more than $20,000 in valuables missing.

"Being up that high every day, that's nothing to what I felt (when I came home)," he said.

Pocono Mountain Regional Police were on the scene Friday dusting for fingerprints and are investigating the robbery.

Edwin, 40, and his wife, Indira Hamilton, 42, said the break-in likely happened Wednesday when they stayed overnight in New York City. Indira Hamilton said she was tending to her sick mother in the city, and was there around 6 p.m. Thursday when her husband called her to tell her about the break-in.

Both make daily commutes to New York City for work. Indira is an elderly care worker in the city.

When Edwin arrived home, he found the living room window broken, the house in shambles with every cupboard, closet and refrigerator door in the home opened and the sliding door on the back porch wide open.

The biggest thefts were jewelry taken from a chest in the couple's bedroom. It included wedding rings returned to the couple two weeks ago after being cleaned and some family heirlooms more than 100 years old, Indira Hamilton said.

She estimated the collection worth about $20,000.

"And it's got very sentimental value," she said.

There were also 12 watches, two laptop computers, a wall-mounted 32-inch television and other smaller items taken.

"You never would expect something like this in such a small community," Indira Hamilton said. "I feel so devastated."

Ironically, the couple moved to Mount Pocono from New York City five years ago for the quiet and the safety.

This isn't chasing them away, though.

"I saw this area, and I fell in love with it," Edwin Hamilton said. "We moved here so that we weren't corrupted by New York City, and now this. But I still love it here. We just wanted to let people know that even if you live in a nice area, you have to keep your eyes out for one another."

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